For convenience, discreetness and protection, women who are menstruating or who have very light incontinence issues may wear disposable absorbent articles such as pantiliners and sanitary napkins. When these women are ambulatory and/or wear the articles for long periods of time, the pads may shift from their original position and buckle, fold, or crumple. Further, the products may be distorted or twisted significantly and may even be dislodged completely. Such displacement, if it occurs prior to an episode of incontinence, may hinder the pad's ability to accept the bodily fluid from the user, which may result in leakage and wetness.
Conventional feminine pads, pantiliners and sanitary napkins are equipped with a backing strip of adhesive. The adhesive strip is pressed against the inside of the user's undergarment to hold the product in place during use. Although the adhesive provides considerable containment of the pad's position, it is not completely effective. The efficacy of the adhesive is compromised by the user's movement, particularly when the adhesive is exposed to wetness.
To provide improved stability, many feminine hygiene articles include wings to keep the articles in place. The wings are typically lateral extensions of the topsheet and backsheet materials extending from the crotch portion of the article. After the user attaches the backing strip to the undergarment, the wings may be folded back underneath the undergarment. The wings may overlap one another, and there is at least one attachment means associated with at least one of the wings to secure the wings to one another or to the underside of the undergarment. The attachment of the wings to the underside of the undergarment provides additional fastening to maintain the article in position during use.
Wings may be used in both feminine hygiene articles and bladder control pads. However, there are some risks associated with using such pads with wings for trapping and retaining urine, particularly during heavy periods of incontinence. In particular, because such pads with wings have lateral extensions of material beyond the crotch width of the pad, the wings preclude the use of any elastic means along the lateral crotch portions of the pads. Such elastic means assist in cupping and shaping the pads during use and are crucial in preventing leaks. Thus, since these bladder control pads with wings do not have elastic means, they are not particularly effective at retaining urine. Further, when the wings are deployed, the side edges of the pad are drawn away from the perineal area of the user, potentially encouraging more runoff after an episode of incontinence while wearing the pad.